In what Mayor Jim Boult described as a "watershed moment" for the town, district councillors on Thursday approved a partnership agreement with Ngai Tahu Property Limited.
Together they will develop one of the most familiar areas of town - a long stretch of one side of Stanley St, from Shotover St to Beetham St.
It is occupied by two car parks, the Queenstown Arts Centre, the Queenstown Performing Arts Centre Trust (QPact), the Queenstown Playcentre, reserve land and part of Ballarat St itself.
The vision is for a "central Queenstown community precinct", with a new council building, a performing and visual arts centre, a library and other community buildings.
Once completed, the intention is for commercial buildings to follow. The partnership agreement does not detail whether any of the existing buildings will be demolished.
The Mayor, speaking at a full Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) meeting on Thursday, said one original proposal was to build just council offices and a car park building. But instead, he believed, there was a "responsibility to build something that will last the test of time".
"I really do see this as very much a watershed moment, where we finally do something sensible with a wonderful piece of land that has sat basically idle, underutilised and unoccupied for many a decade."
Mr Boult baulked at suggestions by many in the community that the QLDC should move out to Frankton.
"I am firmly opposed to that. We're absolutely committed to the fact that the heart of Queenstown is the downtown area and the very logical thing for use to do is to ensure we stay - city hall needs to be in the CBD."
There had, he said, been "a bit of head-banging" during negotiations with Ngai Tahu Property.
The company's chief executive, David Kennedy, also made reference to the negotiations at the meeting, which perhaps indicated they had been particularly tough.
Mr Kennedy said the opportunity was to provide something "enduring and important ... which is of benefit to both parties, the community ... and those who visit here".
"It should be a 50/50 joint venture which is completely transparent, open and enabling for both parties."
"There are other opportunities for the development of the site beyond the civic opportunities, and we thought from the outset it was for very good idea council have the opportunity and option to participate in any other development undertaken on the site."
Margaret O'Hanlon, chair of QPact, said: "It's a beautiful building we have, but completely inadequate for our needs. Put it this way, it's not a building I would lie down in front of to save.
"Queenstown Arts Centre is a different matter; they love their building and it is much more solid."
No-one from the arts centre was available to comment. Queenstown Playcentre representatives declined to comment at this stage.
Ms O'Hanlon thought the redevelopment partnership was positive.
"QLDC couldn't do it on its own. It's wonderful."
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Comments
Do away with the car parks. Make the streets car free to encourage more shoppers.
Queenstown must reduce car dependency and be a pedestrian friendly place. Urban sprawl is destroying the character of the place.
The only real issue with private - public partnerships is the private side expect to see a commercial return on investment. Simply, they want to make money. Time will tell if any of the community organisations can afford to rent the new buildings or be driven further out of town to find affordable premises.